Life of the Sixty three Nayanmar - Periyapuraanam

Here is some portions from one of the precious literature called periya purANam. If one wants to know what is devotion, what will be the actions and state of devotees, and want to dwell in the great nector of love, the best place to go is periya purANam. If you want to feel the great heights that love for the Lord, who is the pure form of love, can take then read the periya purANam not just for the sake of reading, but by putting yourself in the state of the nAyanAr whose life is described as you read. Feel it. Even for a person who never ever tasted the honey of devotion, it should give a great experience. If a person does not get bhakthi even after reading periya purANam you can say for sure that involvement was missing from his/her part.

Exclaiming the value of periya purANam king anapAya chOzan took chEkkizAr perumAn on the royal elephant and he himself fanned chEkkizAr with veNchAmaram in that big procession . What other praise is required when God Himself gave the starting word for the periyapurANam as ulakelAm.

It is a nector that will give you the immortal love, drink it.
It is a perennial river of love that will make the lands of your mind fertile, irrigate with it.
It is a ocean that will get you pearl heaps of coveted qualities, dwell in it.
It is a sharp sword that will cut off the bonds to make you feel the bliss of freedom, hold it strong.
It is a teacher that tells morals of life, make yourself a rock of discipline.
It is a historical information resource, develop your knowledge with that.

chEkkizAr had the true knowledge, he had the best of poetic expression, he had the neutrality in his sayings, he had the devotion for the 63 devotees, above all he had the true love for God. Though only chEkkizAr can match himself, this is an effort to give a glimpse of that wonderland called periya purANam. If it creates an interest in you to read the original text of chEkkizAr, then it has served the purpose. For the people who do not know thamiz but would like to know about the peerless 63 saints, this should give a taste of that nector. If it serves to remind people, who read periya purANam or knew about the 63 saints, about their great deeds, it has found the use that is intended.

If you find this effort good, it is naturally due to the fact that it is just a taste of the non saturating sweet, periya purANam. If there are flaws that is due to my lack of knowledge in this effort and you can be quite sure that periya purANam will be marvelous and look for an opportunity to read it yourself. Please note that this is not a translation so only the theme will be same as in periya purANam. Try to have in mind the holy deeds of the devotees by looking into it on the gurupUja days of these devotees atleast. This effort absolutely can not magnify the glory of periya purANam, but let the Lord and His devotees out of their love bear with and correct the flaws in it.